31 Enero: I loved today!

Hola! Real life, I climbed a mountain hoy. If you know me well enough to be reading this, I'm sure you are proud :)

But alas, I get ahead of myself. This morning, Teresa woke us up early to get ready for our first real day of school. So exciting. We were able to make it to the closest bus stop by ourselves, meet up with a couple of compañeros and get to school without a problem--a half hour early! Ah well, mejor temprano que tarde (y como dicen los hispanos, más vale tarde que nunca ;))!

First impressions:
--Phonology-The teacher seemed fun, and obviously this is my major so me interesa mucho. Marisa, la profesora, told us one day we would have class in a cafetería and have churros with café con leche and chocolate caliente (hot cocoa) :)
--Culture-The teacher was hard to understand, and he didn't seem very fun. This is also the only class we have to buy a book for, so not the best first impression. We spent today doing fill-in-the-blank region maps of Spain online.
--Grammar-This was the class I was least looking forward to and had a very bad attitude about (because it won't come back to ISU as anything useful) but the teacher is this old almost retired guy, who is clearly a good teacher and is very entertaining. I think I will actually enjoy it a lot, and most of my compañeros have it with me too, so that's fun.
--Literature-This guy was like the epitome of an English teacher, so great. He talked really slow so was easy to understand-but only 9 of us have that class, so that's weird!

We got home around 2:30 and had a yummy lunch of weird fried cauliflower mush that was heavy, but it looked to us like it was the only thing for lunch so we ate lots of it...only to find out she had made us a postre for the first time! The postre was delicious-like a really thick cinnamony rice pudding. We were full to bursting. Then Leondro went on some long rant about the evils of communism.


At 5, we met a bunch of our compañeros to go to the mountain! La Montaña de la Virgen, with a little church on top that was in the middle of construction, so it looked sketchy on the outside but was surprisingly beautiful. The hike was hard, very uphill, and we're at a high altitude, but it was so worth it. The views were amazing! And inside the church, as we were looking around, behind closed doors we could hear the echoes of a choir singing hymns in Latin. It made it seem very holy. 

 about halfway up... that's the church and the statue of Jesus up there

 it looks fake, right?

The best part: getting to watch the sunset from the top. So pretty!

En fin, I loved today! It was magical in a whole new way. Every day I love this city more and more.

So praises to God for:
-safe travels
-good teachers
-good health for walking
-good friends
-improving Spanish
-good food
-the beauty of His earth
-the magical city in which I get to live!

Tomorrow, we are getting a tour of La Ciudad Antigua de Cáceres-I'll try to get some good pics!

Hablamos pronto!

30 Enero: Una Anda Muy Bella

Hola! We went to our University this morning, La Universidad de Extremadura. Extremadura is the region in which Cáceres is located. We all went together and got a quick tour and then were given some vague instructions and met two of our professors. It seemed fairly disorganized and unhelpful, but it was still cool to be there. The UEx students are in the middle of finals, so that's kind of weird. Things that stuck out to me: there were designated smoking areas, which is gross, but that's all the rage here. Also when we went into the libraries, everyone stared at us, haha! The athletics area was super nice, but the classes were expensive. And, our professors were really easy to understand! Yay!

We (3 de mis amigas aquí y yo) decided it would be fun to walk home, which took a little over an hour including stops for pictures, snacks, and taking off layers as it got really warm in the sun. It was another beautiful sunny day, and walking back from the University was a fun way to take in the city.

When we got home, there was a visitor! Leondro and Teresa's daughter, María, and her dog were here! She's de media edad, probably a little younger than my parents, and is very Spanish and beautiful, kind and easy to talk to. She showed us videos of her musical children and her sweet grandbaby about whom we have heard so much from Teresa! Her visit made Teresa very, very happy and it was fun to finally meet another family member :)

After la siesta (which is seriously the most ingenious thing ever), some of us met at the mall which is really close to our house! Spain is in the middle of Rebajas, country-wide sales, so we shopped for a few hours there, getting boots, scarves, ice cream and pastries, and other necessities. The Centro was like a tiny mall (think, a little bigger than the Ames mall) connected to a weird smelling Wal-mart like place. Maybe, three times the size of the Ames mall, a third of the size of the Burnsville mall. If you don't know either of those, you probably aren't reading this blog! :)

The big news for today is: We're going to Lisbon, Portugal for this upcoming weekend! I'm very excited.

Praises to God for:
-another beautiful day
-good health for walking
-that we've eaten so much lately that not eating much today (weird food) was okay and I'm not hungry
-modern technology of cameras to document things
-good new friends
-a wonderful Spanish family
-that every day I understand more of what my abuelitos (Leondro y Teresa) are saying to us at dinner
-the ability to plan a cross-country trip for the upcoming weekend
-the opportunity to study in such a magical place as Cáceres!

 The view of the city on the walk home

Hablamos pronto!

29 Enero: Un Día Muy Tranquilo

Hola! Quieres oír de la iglesia? Vale.

So, 6 of us walked to "El Puente" (The Bridge) Evangelical Church this morning for the 11:30 service. One of the pastors there, Tim, is from a city in Iowa from which another girl in our group is from, and so we had already contacted him about it. He told us that in Spain it takes between 10 and 20 years to get a church plant growing, and El Puente was started by a British woman 20 years ago. Today there were about 40-50ish people there, including the 6 of us. Everyone was very welcoming!

First there was 45 minutes of worship, which included singing (with a precious band made up of two guitars, a lady with a tambourine and maracas, and an older lady on the drums), praying, and scripture reading. Then we took communion and there was about 10 minutes of announcements. Then there was a 40-50 minute sermon by, as far as I could tell, a guest speaker (?) It was very, very long. When I was actively paying attention and working really hard to translate in my head, I understood most of what he was saying, but it was exhausting and I missed a lot. Also, he had about 5 distinct points that he was trying to get across in a short amount of time, so I think it was confusing anyway, but I couldn't be sure.

Afterwards, the worship leader, who is also the "youth" (ages 13-30) leader, introduced herself to us and invited us to an event on Friday, and Tim's wife Paula came over and talked to us in English and invited us over to their house for lunch next weekend. Spanish people are very hospitable.

Okay, new topic. So, there was one thing I was very, very wrong about. The food. I was convinced that I wouldn't like anything, would eat only olives, and come home delgada, skinny. HA! Oh my lanta. I have never eaten so much food in my life! Teresa and Leondro, darlings that they are, are believers in BIG meals. I mean, at home, I feel like I eat a lot and then am still hungry two hours later. Here, they are disappointed with how little we eat, and I'm not even hungry between meals (served in the morning, at 2-2:30, and at 9-9:30) !

For example, lunch today: mussels covered in "American salsa" (no idea what that is), pickles, apple cider (that he claimed didn't contain alcohol but smelled and tasted like it did), bread, crackers, a HUGE salad (onions, lettuce, and carrots covered in vinegar, olive oil, and salt), fried peppers in oil, potatoes (fried and mushed and swimming in oil and butter), and veal. So not only is there a ton of food, lots of new things, but also everything is very heavy. They were upset that we didn't want seconds on the veal! I couldn't even eat all of my firsts. So, the point is, I'm going to get fat.

Quick comments on the city: it is very family oriented, I think. There are lots and lots of little children and families doing things together all the time. Also, lots of dogs. It is so so pretty. Hannah and I spent the afternoon in the paseo again, tomando el sol and listening to my iPod. What a life!

Praises to God for:
-another beautiful day
-the kind and welcoming people of Cáceres
-our sweet sweet family (mamá Teresa blessed us each with her Holy Water from the Jordan River before church this morning)
-the opportunity to go to a Protestant church in Spain
-good food
-that we get to go to the University tomorrow!
-that I have been so completely happy and content here, not at all homesick yet!

Hablamos pronto!

28 Enero: Muy Contenta

Hola otra vez! Today was a b.e.a.uuuuuutiful day in Cáceres! Hacía mucho sol y había poco viento :)

It's 2:45 am so I'm going to be brief but I want to tell you a little about the city I am living in:

After a late breakfast of café con leche and muffins, our mamá Teresa, my roommate, and I went to El Parque del Principe, which wasn't at all far from our apartment. It was so lovely- wooded paths surrounding a gorgeous waterway with fountains that we walked along called a paseo. It was the perfect way to spend an afternoon. There are so many hotels everywhere! Si quieres visitarme, hazlo!

In the evening, Hannah and I joined some of our lovely compañeros (truly, everyone on this trip is so wonderful) in the Plaza Mayor and La Ciudad Antiguo de Cáceres - the ancient city of Cáceres. Cáceres has two very distinct parts- the modern part and the old part. We live in the new part, and hadn't seen the beautiful medieval parts before. What a magical place! We couldn't believe our eyes as we walked through tight, winding cobblestone streets swarming with people into this fairy tale place. Stone churches and arches abound with little shops lining the plaza. It was like a dream.

After dinner (a very American grilled ham-and-cheese sandwich, salad, and potato chips, followed by a fruit that doesn't exist in the US that is impossible to describe, but very good),  around 11, we went back to the Plaza to meet up with a bunch of our classmates. From there, we headed to a bar to watch the fútbol game and fiestar como los españoles! It was great fun and I enjoyed spending the time with my new friends.

We're going to church in the morning, so I'd best be getting to bed! But first, praises to God for:
-a beautiful, sunny, warm day
-a sweet, flexible host family
-my fun and cariñosos new ISU friends
-the ability to talk face to face with some girls at ISU via the modern technology of Skype!
-for safety
-for a comfy bed to come home to
-and for the magical opportunity to live in such a marvelous place as this :)

Hablamos pronto!

27 Enero: Primeras Piensas

Holaaaaa de España! It's super late here but I wanted to get this started with a few thoughts.

First: What I'm thinking right now-my converter is charging my laptop right now and it's buzzing really loud and it might blow up. Who knows?

Second: Quick run down of the trip so far: Tuesday at 3pm until now (2am Saturday morning)= 3 flights, a night in a hotel (figuring out how to get there in Spanish was fun), and a 3 hour bus ride later with 20 total ISU students and some random Spanish people, my roommate Hannah and I met our host parents, figured out our housing situation, ordered a bus pass and a library card, and I got a Spanish cell phone.

Third: A little about my host family- Leandro and María Teresa are the most precious abuelitos you could imagine. They love to talk about-well, anything, and lots of it, quickly!-but mostly about their grandchildren. They are very Catholic, kind, and warm. They have hosted lots of students before, and-here's the kicker-they have heat in their apartment! It's glorious :) Teresa loves to cook, which brings me to...

Fourth: Food-so far, so good! Last night: a soothing tea, vegetable puree, fried chicken and cheese croquetes, ensalada w/ olive oil and vinegar, french fries, and mandarinas (like clementines); this morning: toast with marmelade, café con leche (best.thing.ever), and galletas; for lunch: bread and a very rich buttery garlic potatos, carrots, some fish, and some shrimp. The shrimp was drowning in buttery garlic goodness, but I didn't much care for the fish. For dinner, we had tomatoes covered in olive oil and fresh chopped garlic (I would eat it for every meal) and tortilla con patatas (an egg and potato bake!) and yogurt. I love all the garlic!

Finally, a condensed list of my many praises to God:
-safe travels
-sweet companions (the ISU students are wonderful!)
-beloved host family
-warm apartment
-good food
-an easy roommate
-a beautiful and blessed first few days in España

Hablamos pronto!